Pecan Ale | Abita Brewing Co.

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Pecan Harvest Ale is made with real Louisiana pecans that have been toasted to perfection. That makes it something really special, because most beers with a nutty flavor or aroma aren’t made with real nuts. The natural oils from the Louisiana pecans give the ale a light pecan finish and aroma.

Reviews by TypsiYpsi:

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This beer is probably a little underrated. Is this a world class, earth-shattering beer that will change your whole perception of a style? No. But it is a good beer, nonetheless.

What I like about this beer is its simplicity, yet it's uniqueness. I don't think I've had or seen another beer that focused on a nut, let alone pecans. The humble pecan is more than just an occasional filling for pies, topping for ice cream, or add-in for salads. It is one of the quintessential culinary and cultural icons of the American south, generally, and Louisiana in particular.

Being a Louisiana-based brewery, it's fitting that Abita would reach to this heritage to try and represent themselves. But Abita could have done something more glitzy (and cliche), like the all-too-obvious vanilla pecan-praline porter that I'm sure someone has already done or thought about doing. Heck, that would be all the more "New Orleans" touristy, crowd-pleaser (or at least sales-generator) beer, wouldn't it?

Instead, Abita chooses to embrace the pecan itself. Just the nuts. They use real pecans, from the Louisiana crop harvest no less, and they toast them up before adding to the brew. Maybe I just love a great concept beer with something to say, but I think this beer works at least as well as an example of Southern Americana with actual integrity, getting back to the roots of classic Southern crops and ingredients, as it does as an actual beer in my glass. Props for that alone.

OK, long digression, but the result is an enjoyable brew. It's got a nice, light toasted pecan amber hue to it, puts on a good head, and the head has pretty good retention (perhaps from the nut proteins?). Aromas a malty, with a subtle nutty backdrop that alludes to the pecans without shouting about them. The flavor profile is light, with some toasty and grainy malts, a mild crispness, some dark leafy fall flavors of toffee, toasted bread, honey, biscuit, and dare I say something vaguely reminiscent of candy corn. True to it's base, it's a good old brown harvest ale under the hood.

In that mix, the nutty pecans come through with distinction, and a bit of that toast. Not cloying at all like a "pecan pie" interpretation of such a beer.

Overall, perfect for the season, a nice change from the herd of all those pumpkin beers, Oktoberfest Marzens, big milkshake-heavy porters and stouts, and harvest ales that are typical for Fall. This is not a beer made to be an alpha dog and outperform all contenders, nor is it a flavor bomb... but I think the "less is more" approach works well here.

A pecan harvest ale something different to try,poured a beautiful rich amber/brown with a tight formed well sustained 1/2 white head very nice to look at.Very muted aromas a little of the nuttiness imparted from the pecans and a touch of caramel not much hop presence to be had,mild but "nice" flavors a little nutty and on the drier side with some biscuit qualities a bit of residual earthiness in the finish.Nothing remarkable about this beer but its food friendly and has a little flavor.

Pecan Harvest Ale ironically pours a soft pecan shade of brown with some copper and even dark-amber flashing around the edges. Mild clarity throughout, capped with a thin, off-white layer of soapy and borderline-fizzy head. No lacing of any kind, as the head only lasts for about thirty seconds or so before it's gone forever.

I would suspect that the aroma of a beer like this be primarily malt-heavy, and my suspicions were confirmed upon taking a whiff of the beer. Caramel malts, toast, biscuit, and a bit of wood-laden nuttiness in the finish. The aroma is actually kind of nice, albeit somewhat subdued and quiet compare to many other brown ales. Hops are virtually excluded, save for an ever-so-slight hint of grass that occasionally pops out somewhere between the sea of malt.

Unfortunately, you'll find fairly quickly that the taste leaves much to be desired. Saying that the aroma is underpowered quickly becomes old news once you finally take a sip. Somewhat watered down, with a very mild bruising of all the flavors listed in the aroma. Some carmael, some biscuit and breadiness, and faint nuts. But it's so thin and contempt that it's hard to really enjoy the flavors like they should be enjoyed.

Needless to say at this point, the mouth feel was pretty much hand-in-hand with the flavor in terms of expectations and disappointment. Watery, thin, slick, and leaving a slightly crisp and dry aftertaste. Speaking of aftertaste, there isn't much here. There's a very slight residual malt and wood flavor that gets left behind, but shortly after you've swallowed your sip it becomes easily forgotten.

Based on the aroma, I thought this one was gonna turn out better, but the flavor was just so vapid and mind-numbingly underwhelming. The sad thing is, the flavors were/are actually pretty decent, but they unfortunately become an afterthought to the watered-down nature of this American Brown Ale. Started solid, finished mediocre.

Pours a copper orange hue with great clarity and an off white head. Aromas of sweet caramel and a big, bold nuttiness. Somewhat buttery with a real pecan aroma.

First sip brings caramel nuttiness that flows down with a nice sweetness as well. Slightly buttery flavors mix in along with a sweet bread flavor as well. Nice and crisp, the finishes leaves a touch of pecan and some herbal hops as well.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and kind of slick. Goes down easily. An interesting brew but ultimately doesn't really grab me. Worth a try on a single though and a cool concept as I always like to see something different.

The beer pours an orange-amber color with a white head. The aroma is full of toffee and bread malt. I get a little bit of nuttyness in the aroma but there is nothing that screams pecans. The flavor features some light pecan notes as well as some toffee malt. The beer is fairly dry overall. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Very light hops and malts, typical of a standard ale: think of a slightly more flavorful version of a Bud. Abita, however, has infused this brew with the natural oils that come from pecans, and this extra layer gives the beer a nice, very subtle nutty flavor. It's by no means overpowering; in fact, if you didn't know the pecan layer was there, you probably wouldn't be able to pick it out. But it does add an allure that the ale would otherwise lack.